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Panicking when writing

DeneBebboDeneBebbo
edited September 2010 in - Writing Problems
When I have an idea for an article and start work on it I panic and think that someone else may already have the same idea and beat me to getting it published, even if the magazine editor has said the article may be of interest. Does this happen to anyone else?

Comments

  • CarolCarol
    Not writing articles I don't have this issue, but obviously in fiction this does happen, but I don't panic about it as no idea is ever really new, it's just the slant you take on it.
    Have confidence DB, it is quite possible someone has had the same idea- but that's the writing life- you just do it your way and don't panic.
    After all that other person is not like you, they won't see things, or look at things the same way as you do. Or have your personal writing 'voice'.
  • dorothyddorothyd
    it happens, I wrote an article on rejection, sent it to WN, got back a note that he was already covering this in a future issue, emailed it to WF and had it accepted. So, no need to panic, if one magazine has an article on that subject already, someone else will be bound sure not to and take yours.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    There are no new ideas, just new ways to describe them.
  • doradora
    Just remember, "don't panic Mr Mainwaring," and everything'll be just fine

    No I don't panic when writing, it's when it is finished and sent off, then I panic wondering if I've missed something
  • CarolCarol
    I agree with that Dora.
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    edited September 2010
    I write fiction, but as Carol says the same sort of thing can still happen. I don't panic about it but I'm aware that I might submit a story to a magazine just after someone has submitted something with a similar theme, setting etc. I've had a situation where an editor said she liked a story but had just bought one with a girl on a swing so didn't want to use another for a while. It was true, I saw the other story a few weeks later. I did eventually sell my story elsewhere.

    If the editor has said they're interested in your idea then I imagine they'd read yours before accepting another on the same subject - provided you get yours in on time.
  • CarolCarol
    And there is just no way you can avoid the scenario PM has described, it is pure chance that it occurs.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    [quote=DeneBebbo]When I have an idea for an article and start work on it I panic and think that someone else may already have the same idea and beat me to getting it published, even if the magazine editor has said the article may be of interest. Does this happen to anyone else? [/quote]

    Yes! And an editor expressing an interest is absolutely no guarantee that they'll give you first refusal. The area where I experience the most difficulty and anxiety is scuba diving travel articles because there are a lot of us chasing the same top dive destinations for a fairly limited market.
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